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President-elect Joe Biden delivered an emotional farewell speech at an event in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday. The former Vice President fought back tears as he thanked his supporters less than 24 hours before taking over as the 46th President of the United States.
“In our family, the values we share, the character we strive for, the way we view the world—it all comes from home. It all comes from Delaware,” Biden said.
Delaware, his “adopted state”, elected him to the U.S. Senate at the age of 29, and Biden later took over as
Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee from South Carolina’s Strom Thurmond. He spent 44 consecutive years in Washington, D.C. at different capacities before taking a four-year hiatus to decompress from politics and run for President.
“Excuse the emotion, but when I die, Delaware will be written on my heart,” Biden told the crowd of about 100 people.
The President-elect arrives in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening. He will appear at a memorial for COVID-19 victims at the Lincoln Memorial tonight. Biden will spend the night at Blair House, the president’s official guesthouse, and will be sworn in as president tomorrow at noon.
At 78, Biden be older than five of the six former living presidents when he takes the oath of office. Jimmy Carter, 96, became the nation’s longest-lived president, surpassing George H. W. Bush, who died at the age of 94 years, 171 days.
